Russellville junior Kyle Roberson works out during seventh period and after school in the Cyclones offseason football program. Roberson is the starting safety for the Cylcones and hopes to compete in the state weight meet on Apr. 6. (THE COURIER / Travis Simpson)

For the Russellville Cyclones, the annual state weight meet is secondary to becoming a better football team. RHS will host the 21st annual state weight meet on April 6, but head coach Jeff Holt described it as more of a way to motivate the kids in the long months before football season begins than a primary goal.

“It’s a long time until August,” Holt said. “We do some lifts to get them ready for the meet, like power cling and bench press, but we would do those regardless.”

Holt said the top lifters in each weight division will represent 10 Cyclone lifters, and 45 teams and upwards of 400 competitors will participate in the tournament.

“It’s class 2A through 7A,” Holt said. “And it takes a lot of volunteers to make something like this work. The Danny Lyons Orthopedic group is a big sponsor for us, and it takes a whole host of volunteers from the booster club to make it work.”

The Cyclones work hard to place well in the meet, but for Holt, offseason football is about one thing — football.

“Obviously we’re trying to get bigger, faster and stronger,” he explained. “Offseason football is an old-fashioned gut check. You go through tough times in football and you want tough guys who’ll stand in there and go toe-to-toe. That’s what offseason is all about. Once you’re out of there, you’re ready to play football.”

Ninth graders travel by bus in the afternoon to lift with the team, a move Holt said helps the coaching staff and the players get to know the incoming teammates.

“They’re sophomores to us now,” he said. “They’re not just showing up in August. We have a chance to get to know those guys and get a good base underneath them. They get to lift from December all the way through the summer and we get a chance to see which kids might be able to help us on Friday nights.”

Workouts are designed with movement, explosion and endurance in mind. Many programs focus on determining the maximum amount of weight a player can lift a single time to measure a player’s strength.

Assistant coach Matt Warrick, who helps design the Cyclones weight program, said he was less interested in a student-athlete who can put up 400 pounds one time than he is in one who can lift 385 three times.

“We do a lot of different variations of the squat,” Warrick said. “It’s really important that they do a parallel squat to work their glutes and hamstrings. We do a lot of triple-extension exercises whether in the weight room or outside throwing the medicine ball.”

Triple-extension exercises include the knee, ankle and hip. Alongside squats, the lifts are designed to increase movement, power and speed.

“Everything we do is designed with that in mind because that’s where your power comes from,” he said.

“It’s a monitor and adjust sort of deal,” Holt added. “You see what gains you’re making in one area and then adjust to get another area. Everything is created for football functionality. We don’t do anything in the offseason that doesn’t help us on the football field on Friday nights, but we create that program based on the needs of our kids.”